Monster Magnet

In light of the opening of the new Multipurpose Interventional Suite this week, it interesting to look back a mere 16 years to another major new piece of technology. In June 1996 some pretty dramatic images recorded the installation of a $2.3 million Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) unit planned to improve diagnostic services at Royal Columbian Hospital.

A Royal City Record/NOW article explained that MRI is a non-invasive imaging technique that produces cross-sectional pictures of the head, body and spine without the use of X-rays or radioactive materials. MRI uses strong magnetic fields and radio frequency waves; a computer processes the signal information and displays it as an image on a video screen.

On June 4, a 90-ton crane helped hoist the 22,000 lb magnet into the hospital, where it would be housed in a specially protected room in the Medical Imaging department. The magnet had a magnetism of 10,000…